History
HIS 139G Herbs, Potions, and Viruses: History of Medicine and Public Health in Modern China
Introduction to the history of medicine and public health in China (primarily the 20th century) to help students gain a sense of modern Chinese history and make sense of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Reviews how the pandemic has fundamentally changed life, including discussions of state governance and the public health system and the allocation of medical resources and the role of Traditional Medicine (TCM). Surveys the historical development of medicine in 20th-century China, focusing on the dissemination of Western medicine, the evolvement of TCM, and the development of the public health system. Reviews the 1911 Manchurian plague, the cholera pandemic in the 1960s, the 2002 SARS outbreak, and the present-day COVID-19 pandemic.
General Education Code
PE-T
Instructor
Jinghong Zhang